


#NoRomo

by AmyZestyPond



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Aromantic Dean, Gen, Pansexual Castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-04
Updated: 2015-03-04
Packaged: 2018-03-16 09:26:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3483017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmyZestyPond/pseuds/AmyZestyPond
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As his classmates discuss their plans for the upcoming senior prom, Dean stares down at the brightly colored form on his desk. Charlie can whine all she wants about how they absolutely have to go to senior prom, but Dean's mind is made up. He went to his junior prom and his then girlfriend Lisa's senior prom last year. He does not need that experience again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	#NoRomo

**Author's Note:**

  * For [demigod](https://archiveofourown.org/users/demigod/gifts).



> Minor Wrath of Khan spoilers for any Star Trek fans (but I assume 99% of trekkies know what happens in that movie so..)
> 
> Again, all the thanks to my beautiful beta, Wingz. And an extra special thanks for agreeing to be my not-a-date prom date <3

_Does anyone know what the theme is? Pictures at my place? What kind of dress are you wearing? Who's having the after party?_ As his classmates discuss their plans for the upcoming senior prom, Dean stares down at the brightly colored form on his desk. **Save the date! May 1st! Buy your tickets now! $175 for a couple, $135 for a single!**

"We're going right?" Charlie asks, leaning into his line of sight and smiling excitedly. Charlie may not be the girliest girl around, but she loves any opportunity to wear a fancy dress. Dean thinks for a moment, and a few seconds longer just to torture Charlie, before shrugging and stuffing the paper into his bag.

"I don't know," he says. "Kinda already did the whole prom thing." He slings his bag onto his shoulder as he walks out of the room, Charlie close behind.

"What?! Dean we have to go!" she whines. "It's _senior prom_!" She emphasizes the last two words as if Dean hadn't realized before. As if senior prom is some magical night that nobody ever forgets. Dean ignores her, walking to his locker for a quick snack before class. Charlie can whine all she wants about how they absolutely have to go to senior prom, but Dean's mind is made up. He went to his junior prom and his then girlfriend Lisa's senior prom last year. He does not need that experience again.

Senior prom with Lisa had been an . . . interesting experience to say the least. Dean realized that night just how horribly unbalanced their relationship was. Lisa was about 100% more invested than Dean could ever be. He liked spending time with her and god knows he appreciated how flexible she was. . . but that was about it. He never cared about Valentine's Day or going on dates, things Lisa obviously wanted from him. So when senior prom came and Lisa wanted a bouquet and to slow dance at every opportunity, Dean got uncomfortable. He snuck away from her more than once to catch his breath, and ended up breaking up with her the next weekend.

"Cas!" Charlie screams, grabbing the dark haired boy's backpack and pulling him to Dean's locker. Cas flails for a moment, regaining his balance just before Dean thinks he's going to fall to the floor. It wouldn't be the first time. "Tell Dean he needs to go to senior prom with us."

Cas looks taken aback for a moment. "I wasn't planning on going," he answers, slowly. The way he says it almost sounds like a question as if he's really asking the two of them _wait, are we all going to prom? I thought we agreed not to go to prom this year.. what is happening?_

"Exactly. Thank you," Dean pauses to offer Cas a poptart. "I'm thinking we go laser tagging instead. Thoughts?"

Castiel nods. "I would not be opposed. Although, I thought we agreed to check out the paintball place that opened in my neighborhood."

"Ooh, even better!" Dean bounces on the balls of his feet, more to annoy Charlie than out of excitement. He can see her glaring at them through the corner of his eye.

"You two are hopeless!" she all but screams, throwing her hands in the air and stalking off to her next class. Dean shrugs, taking a sip from an energy drink he had stashed in his locker. She'll get over it eventually. Cas grabs another poptart. They're hot fudge flavored - his favorite.

"Did you finish the work for Mr. Singer's physics class?" he asks, waiting for Dean to finish eating so they can head to the classroom.

"Nope," Dean grins. "Did we have any?" Cas shakes his head, used to how Dean functions by now. He acts as if he is completely unaware of anything going on around him, but somehow always manages to get his work in just before the deadline.

"It's due Friday," Cas informs him, closing Dean's locker and pulling him into class before the bell rings.

The rest of the day passes as normal. Charlie is her usual, bubbly self (which occasionally earns a subtle glare from Castiel). Jo goes on about the newest sword or knife she got. Ash scribbles robot designs in his notebook. And Dean and Cas... well, Dean and Cas huddle themselves against the wall, discussing everything from homework to their plans for the weekend. Nobody mentions prom.

 

A month later, Dean has forgotten about prom completely. The bright pink form has long since been lost in the mess of books, papers, and food in his locker. So when Jo hoists herself onto the table Dean has claimed in the library during their shared free period, the last thing he expects out of her mouth is prom.

"Are we going to prom?" she asks casually, swinging her legs back and forth against the table.

"Nope," Dean answers, refusing to look up from his laptop. He's been using his free periods to rewatch all of the original Star Trek movies with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. Prom is not worth the distraction.

"Well here's the thing," Jo says, leaning forward and closing Dean's laptop so that he has no choice but to listen. "Mom kinda really wants me to go." Dean shrugs. Not his problem if Ellen wants to try forcing her boyish daughter to wear a floor-length gown. Jo just keeps right on talking. "And she wants to see you," she pokes her index finger into Dean's chest, "in a tux." When Dean doesn't respond she shrugs and adds, "or a dress. Whichever you prefer. We don't judge."

"I already did prom, Jo," he gently shoves her away and out of his face. "No reason to go again." Jo pouts at him. "I already have plans anyway."

Rolling her eyes, Jo jumps off the table. "Plans that could very easily be cancelled," she comments. "Instead, you could take your boyfriend to his senior prom and have a magical night." Dean can't tell if her smile is meant to be ironic or cute, but either way he doesn't want to deal with it. Instead, he reopens his laptop and presses play on _The Wrath of Khan_. Yet, as he watches Spock dying at Khan's hands, the only thing going through his head is prom.

"I feel you, man," he grumbles to himself as Kirk lets out a blood-curling scream. _KHAAAAN!!!_

 

Dean loves his friends, really he does, but these girls are going to destroy his life. They're both still stuck on the prom issue. Ash is easier to deal with. If everyone decides to go to prom, he'll go to prom. He really doesn't mind either way. Cas very pointedly never mentions it. If Charlie or Jo brings it up around him, he always defers to Dean.

As Dean is cleaning out his locker for a long weekend, he ends up throwing out five empty poptart boxes and three school newspapers. Then he comes across a pink form, no less obnoxiously bright than the day he stuffed it in there about a month and a half ago. He picks it up gently, careful not to tear it. Charlie had already decided she would be going to prom with or without the rest of them. Jo had slowly resigned herself to the fact that she had to go (thank you Mrs. Ellen Harvelle). None of that stops them from occasionally bringing the subject up to Dean, though he realizes, staring at the paper, that he hasn't heard a single word about the event in the past week or so. Huh.

"Almost done?" Cas asks, interrupting Dean's train of thought.

"Yeah, one sec," Dean replies, just loud enough for Cas to hear him. After debating with himself for a moment, he slips the form into his bag, making sure to keep it safely between two textbooks. Standing and closing his locker, he turns to see his best friend watching him expectantly. "Ready?" Dean smiles. He and Cas have a Tolkien marathon planned for the weekend. First, they'll watch The Hobbit trilogy. Once that's done and they've recovered enough to stay awake, they'll watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy. They've been planning this weekend for years, ever since they realized they had an intense mutual obsession. Castiel has since confessed to having read the entire Silmarillion, a feat Dean could only imagine.

"Have fun on your date!" someone calls from down the hall. Right. Valentine’s day is tomorrow. Or as Dean prefers to call it, Saturday. Dean glances at his best friend, who is obviously trying not to laugh. There's a very important story here, but Dean is too busy trying to contain his own laughter to care. For now, let's say that the two have grown accustomed to being treated like a couple.

When they get to Dean's house, Sammy safely driven to his own friend's house for the weekend, they drop their bags in the entryway and head up to Dean's bedroom. After changing into more comfortable clothes (ie sweatpants with Marvel and Harry Potter decals and t-shirts whose original owner they've both long forgotten), Dean leaves Cas to gather the dvds. He bounds down the old, creaky staircase to grab his phone from the pocket of the leather jacket he had discarded on the back of the couch.

"Pizza okay?" he yells to Cas who's still upstairs.

Of course, he already knows Cas doesn't like his strange preferences, so he's halfway through ordering when Cas yells, "Only half barbecue chicken!" They end up with two pizzas - one plain for Cas and the other barbeque chicken for Dean.

By the time they're halfway through the last movie in The Hobbit trilogy, they've both finished their pizzas and moved from the couch onto the floor, coffee table shoved out of the way. Cas is half asleep and Dean is deliriously voicing every question and comment that comes into his head (most are regarding Thorin's obvious hard on for Bilbo). He's not sure when his parents got home, but at some point, Mary came by with blankets and took their empty pizza boxes. Dean looks down at Cas who is fast asleep, head resting comfortably on Dean's shoulder. Smiling to himself, he drops his head back against the couch and closes his eyes, letting the movie play out as he falls asleep.

Dean wakes up only a few hours later to the smell of pancakes and brings his hand up to block the morning sun that's streaming through the window. Cas has disappeared from his side, presumably having turned the TV off when he woke up. Dean pushes himself off the floor, stretching his arms over his head. He yawns and shuffles into the kitchen where, just as he expected, Cas is making pancakes.

"You're awesome," Dean says, opening the fridge to retrieve the orange juice for his friend. He'll fill a glass with tap water for himself. Cas smiles at him, still obviously tired but somehow unable to sleep past sunrise. That's part of the reason they work so well together. Neither of them can even fathom sleeping past 7 am.

At Cas's suggestion, they spend the morning working on assignments - mostly physics. Despite how friendly he may come across, Mr. Singer is absolutely ruthless. When Dean pulled the textbook out of his bag, the pink paper had slipped out with it. Thankfully, he managed to stuff it in between the book's pages before Cas noticed. Dean isn't sure why exactly he tries to hide it from Cas. They've talked about prom. They've agreed they won't be going. No big deal. But he does. And when Cas goes upstairs to shower, Dean can't explain why he sets the pink form on the kitchen counter instead of throwing it away.

Cas leaves the next morning after another night of delirious narration, an over-the-top rendition of "To Isengard," and far too few hours of actually sleeping. He salutes Dean from the sidewalk, duffle bag hoisted onto his shoulder, and t-shirt that was most likely Dean's a couple years ago hanging loosely on his lean frame.

Dean goes to grab a snack and flop back onto the couch, ready to sleep the rest of the day away, but the pink form catches his eye. It's still right where he left it and still obnoxiously bright. Dean decides right then that he hates that color. He shakes his head, grabbing a glass out of the cabinet to fill from the tap. When he turns around, there's Mary, pink prom form in her hand.

"You didn't tell me you can order prom tickets already!" she says, smiling at Dean. He groans internally. Why did he leave that paper out? He should've known this would happen.

"I don't know if we're even going this year," he says. Wait, no. Why did he say that? Of course he knew if he was going. He wasn't. He had plans with Cas instead.

"Oh you should!" Mary squeals. "You can go with Castiel. You two are so cute together!" Now, Dean actually groans. He pinches the bridge of his nose, gathering himself before addressing his mom.

"No, mom," he corrects her. "I've told you. We're not together." _Also, hello mom, we live in Kansas. Not exactly known for homosexual acceptance here._ he thinks. Even if he and Cas were dating, which they aren't because Dean doesn't do relationships anymore and Cas is his _best friend_ , Lawrence High had made their policy very clear. Boy-girl couples only at school functions.

"Oh, well I still think you should go," Mary says, finally setting the paper back on the counter. Dean just sighs, fills his glass, and heads upstairs to the relative safety of his own bedroom. At least in there, nobody can bother him about prom.

 

The next Tuesday, Dean finds Cas sitting on a table in Mr. Singer's classroom after school has ended, asking for clarification on the homework. Cas smiles when he notices Dean walking through the door.

"How ya doin' kid?" Mr. Singer says in acknowledgment.

"My dad told me to ask you to prom," Cas says casually without even looking up from his notebook.

Dean grins. "That's nice of him. My mom just assumed we'd be going together." He drops his schoolbag on the table and jumps up to sit next to Cas.

"I'm glad your mother approves of this relationship," Cas says, completely monotone.

"Is there anyone left who doesn't think we're dating?"

"No," Mr. Singer interrupts. "If you boys don't wanna be mistaken for a couple, I suggest you stop acting like one." Which, okay Dean has to admit the old man has a point. Considering the fact that he's currently sitting shoulder to shoulder with Cas in a practically empty room and staring down at his best friend's notebook, even he would think they were together if he didn't know better. Cas shrugs at the comment, finally finishing his work.

"According to Jo, prom fees are due Thursday," Dean says. Cas looks up at him quizzically, notebook discarded next to his own schoolbag.

"Do you want to go?" he asks, uncertainty obvious in his tone.

"Nah, we already agreed we'd go paintballing right?"

"Right," Cas says slowly. He looks at Dean for a moment, seemingly trying to read his friends mind, but then pushes himself off the table. "Are you hanging out for a while?" Dean shakes his head, jumping off the table to follow Cas out.

 

That night Dean lay on his bed watching Top Gun and very pointedly not thinking about prom which honestly is not very difficult with so many attractive men in uniform on screen. Damn. Not even Cas understands the extent to which Dean can appreciate a man in uniform. But the prom form is sitting on his desk, resting neatly on top of a stack of books Dean hasn't gotten around to reading. He glances at it while Maverick (played by the ever handsome Tom Cruise) flirts with Charlotte, and once he does, it's in his head.

He knows Charlie's already started shopping for her prom dress, and Jo is still in denial over the fact that she has to wear one, but she's going nonetheless. Nobody knows whether or not Ash will be there, although nobody ever really knows what Ash is up to anyway. But Cas . . . Cas is going to miss his senior prom solely so Dean doesn't have to spend the night alone.

"Fuck, I'm gonna regret this," Dean mutters, pausing the movie and rolling off his bed to get his phone. He opens the seldom used group chat between Cas, Charlie, Jo, Ash, and himself.

>> Dean: are we going to prom?

He waits barely a minute before Charlie replies.

>>Charlie: YES!

After that, the chat blows up. At first only Jo and Charlie bother to involve themselves, but soon Cas seems to have started paying attention.

>>Jo: Mom's making me, so yeah

>>Cas: I thought we weren't going....?

>>Dean: forms are due thurs so we kinda need a final decision

Dean chews on his lip, nervous for whatever his friends might reply. Does he want to go to prom? As he thinks it over, he can't help but feel like he's depriving Cas of an experience he might enjoy just because Dean doesn't like the romantic aspect.

>>Jo: you're the only one who can't make up their mind Winchester

Obviously. He knows he's being indecisive, but that's nothing new. He's always indecisive when it's important.

>>Cas: if everyone else is going...

>>Cas: idk maybe??

Instead of giving himself anymore time to think it over, (because let's be honest, he would sit around thinking about it until the last possible moment) Dean sends out a text to the group.

>>Dean: hey cas

>>Dean: LOOKS LIKE WE'RE GOIN TO PROM!!

>>Cas: I'll check with my mother, but that should be okay

Okay, yeah. Maybe it's not a completely horrible idea. Maybe they'll have fun. Dean won't have to buy anyone flowers this time or worry about color coordinating for a girl's dress. He wouldn't even have a date. His phone vibrates with a message from Cas outside the group chat.

>>Cas: Are you going stag?

>>Dean: yep.

>>Cas: Good. You're my date.

Dean laughed. Of course Cas won't even bother looking for a date. Not that Dean minds. He will happily be Cas's prom date. Cas, unlike Lisa, doesn't care if Dean doesn't want to do dates or any of that romantic crap. If platonic soul mates exist, Cas is most definitely Dean's.

>>Dean: alright. do you want a cute promposal?

>>Dean: charlie would go nuts

If he's doing this, he's doing it right. And "right" in Dean's mind is over-the-top cheesy promposal. All done completely ironically.

>>Cas: Please. I might cry

See, unlike Dean, Cas _likes_ the romantic crap. The guy thrives off it. He just doesn't have anyone to enjoy it with.

>>Dean: we're basically solidifying the fact that literally everyone thinks we're dating

>>Dean: oh well

>>Dean: graduation!

In a few months, none of these people will matter. They'll never have to see them again. So, why does it matter if they think Dean and Cas are dating? With only three months until graduation, who fucking cares?

>>Cas: Let's do it.

>>Cas: We can have matching ties.

>>Dean: I'll incorporate v subtle Star Trek references

>>Dean: idk how but yeah

>>Cas: omg god bless u

>>Dean: I know. I'm wonderful

>>Cas: I don't know whether to laugh or not

>>Dean: pshh you know it's true

>>Cas: I'm looking forward to whatever cheesy promposal you come up with

>>Dean: GOOD

>>Dean: youre gonna love it

Maybe Dean's over-selling the promposal. For the moment, he actually has no idea whatsoever what he's gonna do for Cas. He'll come up with something great, though. Eventually. With a little help.

"Sammy!" Dean yells. Almost immediately, he hears his little brother running up the stairs. Why the kid is always so excited, Dean has no idea, but Sam Winchester is a hopeless romantic and Dean needs his help. Sam pokes his head into Dean's bedroom, hair falling all around his face and accentuating his big puppy dog eyes. Dean rolls his eyes at him. "I need to plan a promposal. Over-the-top, cheesy, all that crap you love."

Sam practically lights up with excitement. "Okay, great!" he practically squeals, making his way into Dean's room. "Who is she? It helps if you do something you know she'll like."

"There's no girl, Sam. It's for Cas," Dean clarifies, only realizing his mistake after the words leave his mouth. His little brother has been insistent that Dean had feelings for Cas for the past three years at least. "NO!" he interrupts Sam before he can make those annoying heart eyes and smile like the sap he is. "He's not my boyfriend, Sam. It's ironic. Literally everyone thinks we're dating." He shoots his brother a look that says _don't even try to deny it._

Sam just holds his hands up in surrender. "Fine." He sits cross-legged on Dean's bed. "I would suggest a quartet, but we both know you can't sing." Dean throws a pillow at his face.

"Realistic suggestions only, please."

"Okay, okay," Sam chokes out through his laughing fit. "Maybe just make one of those signs for him." He shrugs. "Some people put pictures of them with whoever it's for from other things they've done together. I'm sure you have tons of pictures with Cas you could use." He waggles his eyebrows at Dean who falls back against the headboard.

"This is hopeless," he says.

"No it's not," Sam pats his knee reassuringly as if Dean needed any more proof the kid was weird. "You'll think of something."

"Yeah, yeah," Dean waves his hand at Sam, gesturing him to get out before he got another pillow to the face. "I'll figure it out." Sam smiles at him before getting up to leave. He's almost out the door when Dean mutters a quick "thanks."

 

Nobody mentions prom the rest of the week. They all hand in their forms for single tickets. Except Ash. Nobody knows what he's doing.

All week and into the weekend, Dean finds himself thinking about what to do for Cas. Cas is never going to get another promposal so Dean wants to make it perfect. He wants Cas to have that experience.

The season of promposals is almost over and Dean still hasn't decided what to do. He sees girls and boys walking through the hallways at school with "Prom?" signs and the internet is exploding with promposal stories. Dean is hopeless.

He's sitting at his desk, working through more physics work when he gets a text from Cas with a link. It's nothing new. Cas sends him links to stuff he finds on the internet all the time. Dean opens it and he will swear til the day he dies that he had an epiphany. Angels descending from the sky, chorus singing, the whole ordeal. Cas had sent him a link to asexual and aromantic valentine's day cards. Valentine's day was almost two weeks ago, but Cas attached the message:

>>Cas: thought you'd like these :P

Dean knows what he wants to do for Cas' promposal. Abandoning his homework, he grabs his jacket and the keys to the Impala. The closest craft supplies store is only 15 minutes away. Not that Dean's figured out exactly what he's going to get, but he knows where to start.

An hour later, he's back home, supplies spread across his bedroom floor. He has about a thousand sharpies scattered around a giant piece of posterboard. He's already outlined the word "Prom?" in the center with a pencil and has brought his laptop out to find pictures of himself and Cas from facebook. He downloads and prints pictures from concerts they've gone to together, selfies Cas has forced him into throughout the past four years, and a few others he thinks Cas will like.

The pictures are glued on around "Prom?" when he starts sorting through the sharpies. Dean doesn't actually know Cas' favorite color, but he knows Cas. He separates the "P" into three equal parts and colors them pink, yellow, and blue. Pansexual. Dean smiles to himself at the pun. The next three letters are colored grey for no reason other than Dean liking the metallic sort of shine the sharpie has. The question mark is last, and Dean colors it purple for LH's school color. When that's done, all of it is outlined in thick black.

Dean sits back to appreciate his work. He almost never puts this much effort into anything, so Cas has to love it. The poster looks nice, though. Now, for the finishing touch. Dean grabs the dark and light green, yellow, silver, and black sharpies. At the bottom of the poster, he has outlined "#NoRomo" in pencil. He colors the "#" black, the "N" and "R" dark green, the "o"'s yellow, and the "m" light green. Everything gets a metallic silver outline. Perfect.

 

Friday afternoon, Dean bolts to Mr. Singer's classroom as soon as the final bell rings. He’s already agreed to meet Cas there like they do when neither of them has to be home early. He told Mr. Singer about his plan this morning, and stashed the sign in one of the many cabinets lining the walls. The physics teacher just shook his head and muttered something about “crazy teenagers.”

Dean drops his bag on the floor, running to get the sign out of the cabinet. Mr. Singer has already made a point out of laughing at him (“And you’re sure this boy doesn’t think you’re dating?”). He’s finally got the sign out when Cas walks him. Dean didn’t really plan this part, so he stands awkwardly, holding the sign over his chest. The anxiety is probably written all over his face, but Cas beams at him anyway. Dean relaxes slightly when he does and begins to smile.

Then Cas is hugging him and they’re laughing. Dean doesn’t know how long they stay like that, but Cas pulls away first, still smiling brightly.

“You realize this means you have to dance with me,” he says.

Dean shakes his head lightly. “No problem.” He’s about to move and drop the sign on the nearest table when Cas stops him.

“Just one thing,” he says, staring at Dean intently.

“What?”

“Can I keep the sign?” Dean laughs at Cas’ hesitance and hands it over to his friend. This prom is going to be great.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Visual for the sign:


End file.
